The menus were full of small dishes, from dumplings, buns, to noodles and congees.

I went there twice already and was able to try different dishes.

Great news that finally there was a place serving comparable soup dumpling, Xiao long bao, to Din Tai Fung‘s.

Equally thin-skinned and very juicy with tender gingery meat, the Dough Zone Xiao long bao were delicious and at a lower price point than Din Tai Fung – a bonus!

The rest of the menu items were hit and miss.

For starters, I had the spicy cucumbers and radish.

Both were tasty.

The spicy sauce was very spicy in the crunchy cucumbers and I just loved the garlic in them.

The dish was less sweet and less sesame flavor than Din Tai Fung’s and yet still good.

The radish was very savory and additive and with a harder crunch.

It reminded me of the radish that my family in Hong Kong ate with plain congee every Sunday morning.

My next favorite would be the pan-fried buns, Sheng Jian Bao.

The buns were soft and the pork filling once again were very juicy, flavored well and just fantastic.

The inconsistency came from frying.

Some of the buns on my plate got the much expected crispy bottom which was the highlight of sheng juan bao — slight burnt, harder crusty bottom gave slight caramelized flavor and added texture to the bun; but others were barely fried and completely paled.

Hopefully they could make the pan-frying process more consistent otherwise it was very much a waste on otherwise really good buns.

I had wonton soup, spicy wontons and leek pockets on one occasion.

The leek pockets were awesome!

Again very juicy; and the skin was light and was pan-fried top and bottom in just right crispiness, totally delicious.

The filling was made with aromatic leeks, mung bean noodle and eggs.

The wontons had very thin skin and smooth which was fantastic except the filling was extremely minimal.

I felt like I was only eating wrapping.

The spicy wonton sauce was good but not as good as the one at Din Tai Fung.

On another occasion, I had beef roll and it was tasty — fresh cilantro with well marinated thinly sliced cold beef in a crispy buttery pancake and a little sauce inside, the textural contrast was great and a very decent dish.

The stewed pork noodle I did not much care for.

It had a nice soy sauce flavor and noodle had great texture; I could not get over the, lack of a better term “porky” flavor of the meat.

It was the unpleasant, “gamey” meat flavor that pork generally should not have.

I also had a crepe-like dish called jianbing guozi, with egg outside and fried dough inside, and that was probably the worse dish I got there.

The wrap was chewy when I was expecting crispiness, and the fried dough inside was completely soggy.

We had a very pricey beef burger which had tender tasty beef with strong cilantro flavor but the bun was doughy and soggy — felt like I was eating a mouthful of flour and soggy from soaking up the grease from frying.

All in all, if one knew what to order, and that the restaurant was consistent in their delivery, the meal would be wonderful.

Dough Zone still had long line on weekends and night-time, and the last time I was there for lunch, I did not have to wait.

Ordered at the counter and food and drinks delivered according to your number with self-serve seating.

It was a warm sunny day in Seattle — perfect for their fresh juices.

I loved the humorous inscription on the cup, it said, ” warning: if you consume this beverage, it may cause – dissatisfaction with processed or packaged foods – peace of mind – a cascade of healthy lifestyle choices.”

We had the immune boost juice with apple, celery, parsley, carrot and ginger; juices were fresh, heavy in celery flavor.

For food, DH had the bahn mi bowl with glass noodle and 5-spiced cold tofu with carrot, cucumbers and cilantro mint sauce.

I had the vegan mushroom quiche with chia seeds pudding.

I did not enjoy the bahn mi bowl as I thought I would, perhaps because I was very used to the Vietnamese ones with nice cool soft noodles and excellent grilled meats.

The glass noodle was a little crunchy and dry, felt like it was undercooked, or had been refrigerated after cooking which generally destroyed the texture of starches.

The vegetables and peanuts were fresh and the five-spiced tofu had very strong soy sauce and five-spiced flavor.

I could not get over the hard stewed/braised tofu pieces as it felt really heavy and salty.

The strong five-spiced flavor was very satiating and overwhelming.

Now I understood why in Chinese cuisine, these braised five-spice tofu curds were always shredded and tossed with vegetables as appetizer.

The cilantro mint sauce was beautifully done with great flavors and invigorating.

My mushroom quiche was fantastic!

The crust had awesome texture — light and crumbly, with pleasant mushroom and curry flavors.

I loved the filling texture — guessing it had some tofu in there as well.

This was my first time having chia seeds pudding.

It reminded me very much of Chinese tapioca dessert except much thicker.

The chia seed pudding was garnished with banana and roast coconut flakes.

It was very substantial and completely could stand on its own as a breakfast course for me.

While at my table, I saw the ad for this vegan hot pepper sauce, Chicaoji.

The café had many kinds of communal hot sauces for patrons and Chicaoji was one of them.

This funky spaceship-alien themed pizza joint served up delightful pizzas.

I was most surprising to find deep dish pizza — something that was very uncommon here and reminded me of my days in the Midwest.

Flying saucer pizzas offer quite a few different flavors including great selection of vegetarian pizzas along with salads and pastas.

The pizza names were geeky and hilarious, they included Andromeda, the chickenator and crop circle.

On my first visit I had the deep dish Thai fighter without cheese to go.

The crust was made of soft, yeasty bread that carried a light sweetness and baked to a slight crisp.

My pizza passenger along the way home was just taunting me with this sweet savory peanut aroma.

The sauce was sweet, mildly spicy and delicious; the slightly charred thinly julienned carrots and cabbage with sprouts and cilantro gave pleasant and aromatic flavors.

The pizza without cheese was still tasty.

The next trip I had a regular cosmic clucker and a deep dish luau.

The regular crust was bready inside and appropriately dry crisp bottom and top.

I loved their twist of adding artichoke in this bbq chicken pizza; while the luau was Hawaiian pizza with extra bacon on top of Canadian bacon.

I did not skip cheese the second time, and I did find that both the pizzas were too heavy-handed with cheese that was distracting the main flavors and increased their greasiness.

I would go back again for sure and perhaps cheeseless would be my main stay.

Went around the block, one would find Now Make Me A Sandwich every Thursday stationed at West Willows Technology Center.

The guys made very delicious sandwiches.

I loved their unique vegetarian sandwich with roasted yam, spinach, mushroom, peppers and the great addition of manchego cheese and garlic tahini sauce; the best part, it was called Buddha Call.

It was tasty with lots of flavors, fresh and the yam gave texture.

Another one I had and enjoyed tremendously was the Vahalla pork — tasty tender pulled pork, dressed with a coleslaw with a surprising twist – apple jalapeno; sweet and quite spicy, delicious with a crunch.

I also had their Viking stew, which had generous amount of vegetables but the day I got it was a little cold which made the creamy stew heavy.

There were many more sandwiches to try with fillings such as roast beef, ham, chicken and turkey, I shall be back!